Monday, February 23, 2015

Math is stupid

State officials don’t even agree on how Louisiana got into this budget mess.

Jindal insists the bulk of next year’s shortfall is because of the
nosedive in oil prices and its impact on Louisiana’s treasury through
lessened severance taxes and mineral royalties. He told a crowd at a
recent Baton Rouge event that the state’s financial problems are
“largely due to the decline in the price of oil.”

The math doesn’t back up the governor’s assertion, no matter how many times he repeats the explanation.

Louisiana’s income forecasting panel dropped next year’s revenue
projections by about $300 million because of plummeting oil prices. The
larger problem for next year’s budget is the use of $1.1 billion this
year in patchwork financing.

The dollars come from one-time legal settlements, redirected account
balances and insurance payments that aren’t expected to appear again
next year. Jindal and lawmakers used the money to pay for ongoing
programs, so when the dollars disappear, the state must come up with a
new way to pay for those items if it wants to continue the services.